North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $1.29 Million in Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,534 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,207,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,293,274,000 after purchasing an additional 311,539 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,924,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,437,669,000 after purchasing an additional 99,298 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,625,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,345,703,000 after purchasing an additional 414,828 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,318,474 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $713,209,000 after purchasing an additional 9,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials in the third quarter worth about $425,938,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Melissa H. Anderson sold 1,137 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.72, for a total value of $345,329.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VMC. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Vulcan Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Vulcan Materials from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Vulcan Materials from $365.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.58.

Vulcan Materials Stock Down 2.6%

Vulcan Materials stock opened at $259.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.09. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52 week low of $252.35 and a 52 week high of $331.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $279.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The construction company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Vulcan Materials had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 13.81%.Vulcan Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Vulcan Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.73%.

About Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) is a U.S.-based producer of construction materials that supplies the building and infrastructure markets. The company’s primary products include construction aggregates such as crushed stone, sand and gravel, as well as asphalt mixes and ready-mixed concrete. These materials are used in a wide range of projects including highways, commercial and residential construction, and public infrastructure.

Vulcan operates an integrated network of quarries, asphalt plants and concrete facilities to produce and deliver materials to contractors, municipalities and private developers.